Issue Guides
Family Economic Security
We need an economy and tax system that work for everyday women and families–where working people are paid sustainable wages, where everyone can make ends meet in safety and with dignity, and where communities have the resources key to ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity and freedom from discrimination and harassment. Michigan’s women, people of color, and families also deserve a higher education system that actually lives up to its promise of opportunity instead of crippling students and communities with debt—especially Michigan’s Black women. By ensuring that corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, our communities reclaim revenue that can support the programs we need. If politicians unrig our economy, we will have more to invest in critical supports like access to quality child care, paid leave for all, affordable education, better infrastructure, enforcement of anti-discrimination protections, and other policies that center women and families.
Politicians and lawmakers need to prioritize policies that provide Michigan’s women and families with the supports they need to thrive.
Policies candidates & lawmakers should support:
1.Make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.
2.Help families with the rising cost of child care by investing in high-quality, affordable child care.
3.Establish universal paid family and medical leave.
4.Ensure that publicly funded higher education is affordable, including creating incentive programs that forgive student loan debt, and that institutions of higher education have attendance policies that accommodate the needs of parenting students.
5.Create an economy that centers women and people of color and enables them to meet their needs, including affording stable and accessible housing and food access.
6.Protect women, especially women of color, and all workers from discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
7.Pay workers fairly, including ensuring equal pay for all and raising the minimum wage to at least $15/hour for all working people.
Questions to ask candidates:
1.The tax code concentrates wealth in the hands of the privileged few, perpetuates racial and gender wealth gaps, and deprives our communities of revenues that could be put toward public investments that benefit us all. How will you ensure that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes?
2.Have you developed policy, advocated for programs or investments, or passed laws that help families meet their needs, including households struggling to find and afford the high cost of quality child care? Be specific. How will you support the child care workforce that provides this care?
3.How have you advocated for the passage of comprehensive paid family and medical leave for all? Will you commit to ensuring that all working people have access to paid time off to care for themselves and loved ones?
4.How will you further the fight for student loan relief, especially for overburdened communities like Black women, women of color, and student parents, and in light of the recent student loan wins?
5.Have you advocated for and/or passed legislation that strengthens anti-discrimination protections, including protections against harassment and pay discrimination? How will you specifically address the especially large race and gender pay gaps experienced by Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of color?
6.People working to support their families should be able to make ends meet, including paying for housing, health care, transportation, food and other basic needs. How have you advocated for raising the minimum wage to one fair wage of at least $15 per hour for all workers before tips, including youth, workers with disabilities, and others? How will you ensure that anyone who works gets paid at least $15 an hour, before tips? How will you further the expansion of refundable tax credits aimed at helping everyday households?
7.How will you support creating more accessible and affordable housing, especially for people with low incomes?